Executive Director Rob Schware talks with Trauma Center Yoga Program co-founder David Emerson for The Huffington Post Blog about how yoga is becoming a proven, accepted method to treat post-traumatic stress; and what yoga instructors should know before they begin working with trauma survivors.

“When Senator Kennedy mentioned our yoga program during his comments for the Trauma Center’s 25th anniversary, I felt like yoga had arrived as a serious, viable treatment. One of two other incredibly meaningful moments was our team receiving the first grant ever given by the National Institutes of Health to study yoga and trauma; the other was completing the first – and to date, only – randomized controlled PTSD trial using yoga as the therapeutic intervention. Finally, any day on which someone I am working with notices a body feeling and makes a choice about what to do with it, is a standout day.”

– David Emerson, co-founder of the yoga program at Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute

Click here to read more of David’s thoughts on why the scientific process matters, and why it’s important for yoga instructors working with trauma survivors to have the support of a professional team.